Today we start a new series on the site. Each Thursday we’ll have the chance to throw back to Sunday’s message with a quick summary. This week our theme was New Year Blessings and we focused on Numbers 6:22-27. This section deals with something we call the Aaronic Benediction. If you’re part of a traditional worship community, then you’ve undoubtedly heard this numerous times. 

The LORD bless you and keep you,
the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious unto you,
the LORD look upon you with favor and give you peace. 

The LORD bless you and keep you. It’s not a request or a plea but a statement of fact. This is what God does. He blesses and keeps. He blesses means that he comes to us in a humble form and gives us a gift we truly need. God came down from heaven on Christmas as a child born. The gift we needed most was the gift of forgiveness and restoration. This gift he gave us without our asking. The second part of this line is to keep. This word is probably better understood as guard. The reality is that God surrounds us on every side with a protective wall. He keeps us safe with his loving arms around us. The LORD come to you on bended knee giving you the gift you really need and guard you by surrounding you with his loving arms.

The LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious unto you . Is there anyone in your life who just by looking at their face your whole day changes? Well this is what it means to have someone’s face shine upon you. The only difference is that God shines his face on us all the time because he’s always with us. This shining face came in the form of his son Jesus. When Jesus shined the face of God on humanity, and on you and me in particular, we were placed in the light of God’s grace. To be gracious to someone is to give them a gift they don’t even know they need. Our greatest gift is the love God has for us, a love undeserved and unearned.  The LORD change your day by his loving presence in your life now and always.

The LORD look upon you with favor and give you His peace. When we are shown favor by someone we see that they go out of their way to show us love. To be shown favor is an extremely flattering thing because we can’t understand it, but receiving this favor brightens our days because we know we’re loved. When God looks on us with favor it means that he has brought us into his family. He’s adopted us and calls us his own. He favors us with the gifts of grace and mercy, forgiveness and love. And finally we receive peace. Because of all these realities we now have a different outlook on life. The bad isn’t unbearable and the good has a whole new meaning.

So this weekend, whatever it holds, remember these amazing words.

The LORD bless you and keep you,
the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious unto you,
the LORD look upon you with favor and give you peace.